Washed Up Upon the Sand
by Pat Squared
Summary: 28 years after the war, a Fire Nation slave is washed up upon the shore of Kyoshi Island. What else will wash up on shore?
1. Kyoshi Island

**Washed Up Upon the Sand**

**Kyoshi, Free Port of**

**By Pat Squared

* * *

**

_Twenty Seven Years after the Battle of the Black Sun_

The war was over and the veterans returned home to remake their little corner of their world. People married and babies were soon born.

However there were some that could not function in the new world. They could not let go of the roar of battle lust running through their souls. These souls plagued the roads as highwaymen extorting special tolls from all they encountered. Others joined the rank of pirates raiding across oceans that were once policed by the now defunct Fire Nation Navy. Some were quickly dispatched or taken before the bar of justice. Some were never caught and became legends.

Kyoshi Island had fought several battles against the pirates that plagued the Southern Ocean. At first, the pirates thought the island easy pickings. However, after fifth big clash, the pirates made it a point to avoid getting too close to the island's small fleet...at least with the intention to loot.

Kyoshi Island had suffered near total isolation during the century long war and it was on a subsistence economy, growing and producing everything the residents of the island consumed. The only source of outside goods was the pirates who need someplace where they can get the fresh water and fruits needed by the boats.

So a deal was made. The pirates agreed to keep the peace of the island. No fights between rival crews. No thievery aloud. No slavery permitted. No dumping bodies or waste in the waters of Kyoshi. In addition, everyone will pretend to be honest merchants within a dozen leagues of the island.

Soon the pirates and the locals merged as Kyoshi became the wealthiest free port in the Southern Ocean. The pirates became privateers with letters of marque and reprisal. The captains became _honest_ respected citizens of Kyoshi. The crews became the fathers of many of the island youths and the next generation of privateers who plied the pirate's trade in the oceans of the world.

Just as things were starting to look up...fate had a way of dumping crap upon your head.

There were two ports.

The first is the bay. Ships were not allowed to sail or fish along the bay for the Elephant Koi and Unagi were sacred to the residents of Kyoshi and the pirates who settled the island knew better than to aggravate their wives and in-laws. Besides there was a better harbor.

The second is the harbor that the merchants used to move their goods in and out. The action was always on the harbor. That was where the money moved.

However the Unagi's Bay seemed to be the landing spot for fate. Twenty eight years ago, the avatar landed in the bay.

Today, someone else was washed upon the shores.

Koko, once the head of the Kyoshi branch of Avatar Aang's fan club, was watching her youngest daughter and her friend play on the sands of the bay when she spotted a body floating in the waters. Within minutes her eldest son brought the body unto shore.

A weak groan told the gathering crowd that the middle aged man was still alive. The loincloth, the calluses, and the scars told of a lifetime of slavery. The cloth over the eyes told of the reason the slave was thrown overboard. A blind slave was next to worthless.

There was only one nation that practiced slavery...the Fire Nation. However after the defeat of Ozai, the Fire Nation withdrew back into its traditional enclaves only holding onto a few ports on the west coast of the mainland.

What the residents of Kyoshi did not know what that this particular Fire Nation slave was going to be the harbinger of trouble times ahead.


	2. I Don't Belong

**Washed Up Upon the Sands**

**I Don't Belong**

* * *

Hanaye watched the old man as he muttered in his fever dreams.

The words were disjointed...more nonsense sounds than any thing that could convey meaning beyond pain.

Her long slender fingers trace the tattoos that were placed on his body.

Murderer...assassin...traitor...demon-kin...The _hanza_ (ideograms) were branded into his flesh before the ink was applied. They marked a demon, a ruthless killer who took life for trinkets.

"They thought they broke you. They thought they tamed you and caged you. However, something inside of you allowed you to escape," she whispered.

The dark skinned water-bender looked at the lash scars and the scars he got from a lifetime of slavery. Her green eyes traced the elaborate marks of the torturer's trade.

"I hope that you find your freedom. I wish that I only could find mine."

Hanaye hated being the youngest daughter of the chieftain of Kyoshi Island. Every time she breathed, there were rules and traditions to uphold. Worse yet, she was the only still-living water bender in her family. Her brothers and sisters were earth benders or Kyoshi warriors. They were treated...like...like they mattered.

Her father called water bending...that magic water thing.

The way he said it was like she had some weird disease or something.

"No one understands...even Ayume. She at least had Uncle Iroh to support her and teach her fire bending. I have...him. Called water bending...freakish..."

A flick of the wrist summoned a water tentacle. However when she tried to whip it, the water tentacle fell apart.

"Too bad Aunt Tara died before I was born. If only she were still alive...dad would not be telling to hide my _weird powers_ from the world. I would not have to wash his filthy stinking crap-stained underwear while he thumps his chest and flexes his muscles like he still some great warrior. I mean...what did mom ever see in him?"

She cleared her mind. She _had_ to master the water whip. It was everything the fighting style of the water tribes were based upon. All her siblings, at least the ones who could bend, could fight. Her oldest brother, Ichiro, won the championship at Earth Rumble 27 beating out all the comers who show up to the first Rumble after Lady Toph Bei Fong announced her retirement. No one, not even her dare-devil brother, Jiro, would think of going one on one with world's toughest earth-bender.

Worse yet was cousin Ayume. Fire-benders were hated and were ruthlessly hunted down. However, despite have to grow up hiding her talent, Ayume could do it all. Columns of fire and lightning down from the heavens with the snap of a finger. She could make fire do her bidding.

Hanaye's cousin and siblings were blessed to have someone who would show them the basics. Hanaye had no one.

"Damn it, mom. Why couldn't I bend earth like the rest of the family."

A throat cleared, "Hanaye, what is the rule about cursing in the house?"

A sullen fourteen year old looked back at her mother.

"No cursing allowed. But daddy does it...I mean when he..."

"Uses a fish hook to dig out a fish hook stuck in his thumb and gets two fish-hooks stuck."

Both ladies laughed.

"I remember your aunt telling me that story. I only wished you could meet her. You look like her, minus the hair loop thingies."

"Hair loop thingies...you are almost as bad as dad!"

"Go and eat. I will watch our guest. There will be time to work on that water thingy later."

Hanaye's mother, Suki, could somehow get Hanaye to laugh even when her buttons were being pushed.

* * *

The night air was moist. The moisture warmed by the jungle heat. The local mosquito population was fed, sated, and bedded down for the night.

Something commanded him to lay still and mumble incoherently.

The female voice was soft and young. He recognized the impatience of youth and the desire to conquer the world in a single day. The iron mines had cured him of his childish dream. Defiance only ensured that they worked harder to grind you into powder.

He reached out with his senses and felt the fire warming the tea kettle. He felt the electricity that her body generated. While not good enough for a life or death fight, the connection he had with the element allowed him to stay alive while other luckier souls managed to escape their captivity by entering the realm of the dead.

He knew nothing of his life before the mines.

In a way, not having a past saved him. He did not have to wonder about what happened to any loved ones. He did not have to remember what it was like to be free and taste air without eating the dust of the earth.

For fifteen years, they had him control the fires that was used to smelt the raw iron ore into bars of pig-iron. It was only the first step on the path to forging weapons for his captors. Over the years he hid metal splinters in his skin until he had enough to fashion a lock pick. It took half a dozen tries to get it right before he could once again taste free air.

However, they had trapped his spirit.

For so long he dreamt of being free. However when he was out in the open air, panic almost unmanned him and nearly force him to turn himself back in. There were no familiar walls and paths to travel. There was only one big emptiness in the sky that threaten to make him dizzy and hyperventilate.

For two days and nights, he hid. He prayed for those who did in the collapsing cave. He prayed that his former masters believe that his was one of the unidentified bodies they would pull out of the debris. They would pull out the bodies for they condemn were mining a particularly rich ore vein.

Tonight, he would wait until they fell asleep. He would wait for days and weeks if necessary. If they thought him weak, it would be that extra advantage he needed to make his way to the south.

Something compelled him south, maybe it was some remnant of a memory forgotten in captivity. However, that feeling was the only link he had to a world that had forgotten him a lifetime ago.


	3. The Hunt

**Washed Up Upon the Sands**

**The Hunt Begins**

* * *

The eunuch bowed before him.

"Prince Tatsuo (Dragon Man), the Fire Lady commands your presence."

The eunuch's posture was perfect as the servant performed the traditional bow towards a superior. The servant's official outfit was spotless and perfectly pressed and starched.

The prince was attired in a pair of short breeches and was panting from the heavy exertion. He had been training, preparing for the traditional hunt that marked a noble's transition from boyhood to manhood. For most, the post-hunt celebration would mark one's entrance into the games of power. However for the prince, his existence, from the moment of his conception, was intertwined with the game.

Crown Prince Tatsuo knew that his previous two predecessors, Prince Zuko and Prince Iroh, never ascended to the dais. The traitorous Prince Zuko was killed during the battle between the Avatar and the old Fire Lord Ozai when the roof collapsed and crushed his body. Prince Iroh was hiding somewhere in the Earth Kingdom.

The Fire Lady might be his mother, but he knew better than to expect any love from the lady he called mother. His mute nursemaid had more love for him in her pinky than his birth-mother ever had.

The prince's fingers unconsciously traced the scar on his chest. His mother taught him to channel lighting the hard way. He stilled remembered the pain of walking in and getting a lightning bolt to the side. He managed to deflect the second and following bolts. However despite surviving, he was punished for not being alert enough to avoid the first.

The body servants quickly sponged down the waiting prince and slid a red and black _hanten_ (traditional sleeveless jacket) with the Fire Nation crest in the chest. He dipped his hands in the perfumed water and grabbed the towel.

Prince Tatsuo toweled off as he trotted off to the throne room.

The only thing the Fire Lady hated more than a filthy prince was a tardy prince.

* * *

"Prince Tatsuo, it is time for you to hunt down and kill a traitor to our nation. If you were just another noble's brat, I would have you hunt down just any prisoner. However you are my heir. Therefore I expect more of you. I would have you hunt down and kill the Avatar for what he did to our nation. However, there is someone more dangerous that needs...correction."

Prince Tatsuo kept his face emotionless as he awaited this assignment. Here was the beginning of his legacy. He was to hunt some more hated than the Avatar.

"The one you hunt does not have a name, but he uses many. He is born of fire, but hides in the shadows. He is the masked one many call the Blue Spirit. He was the one that whisked the Avatar from Admiral Zhao. He is an assassin and was once my guest for many years. He escaped from the Iron Mountain Mines."

Prince Tatsuo knew his quarry. He had to hunt down a legend. He had to hunt down the Blue Spirit.

"You will depart on the morning tide. My spies tell me that he escaped to the lands of the enemy. You will go incognito as another bounty hunter. There are many brigands terrorizing the roads and the seas and enough of our bastards for you to blend in with the local population. As far as the Nation will know, you are going to the Fire Temple for studies for the next year. You have one year to bring in our enemy or at least his head. Your position...no your life depends on this, Prince Tatsuo. Don't be the failures your two predecessors were.


	4. Taking the Wind

**Washed Up Upon the Shore **

**Taking the Wind **

**By Pat Squared **

* * *

_"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." _

The blind man could not remember when or where he first learned the sage's quotation, but it managed to save his life many times over. Many prisoners have died by pushing too hard, too fast. Many more died by hesitating. The blind man knew that pursuing either course would be his end and chose the middle path of perseverance. Small gradual advances, taking limited advantages of opportunities, positioning small, multiple caches of supplies, and obtaining small privileges were all part of a long term plan to obtain something that he had long since forgot...his freedom.

He had long since surrendered everything in the quest to escape the living hell that was his life.

_The sweetest spring is always drained first_.

Those who showed excess endurance and energy were the first to be used up in the mines. He tried to remember the sound of their voices, but time and pain had ruined his powers of recall.

His former masters would be looking for him.

He knew that even if they thought he died, they would not rest until they confirm his death and toss his body into the swamps to feed the crawfish and leeches.

He had spent numerous days and nights hidden in the powder stores of a Fire Navy frigate. Then he let the currents roll him unto this shore. He knew that the journey had weakened him far beyond what the decades of slavery did to him.

His callused fingers traced the brands on his flesh.

_Traitor, assassin, kin killer..._

He knew that no one would take one like him. Then he took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He wondered what were his crimes...he wondered how many sons were seeking his head to avenge their fallen fathers. He wondered who his enemies were.

All he knew was that he had no friends in this life and his crimes would ensure that he would suffer the cruelest punishment in the next.

Everyone...anyone could be one to those who wanted him dead. Maybe the fates were leading him to those who would liberate his soul by dispatching his life. Maybe they would lead him to some quiet place where the air, earth, and waters would do the job. Either way, it would not matter to him. Death was nothing to being dragged back into the mines.

The gentle snores and the cool air told him that darkness had claimed even the water bender who tended him. He slowly sucked in the cool air into his fevered body.

Slowly, the blind fire-bender crescent stepped his way to the door. His fingers instinctively traced the locking mechanism until he found the trip. Slowly he jiggled the latch and slide out into the night.

* * *

Tatsuo stood as his mute nursemaid handed him a package.

He could see the tears and effort the slave made not to sob.

Slowly he took the package from the lady who attended him since his first entry into this world. He wanted to acknowledge the only person he knew that loved him, but protocol and the pervasiveness of court gossip prohibited his thanking of a slave let alone expressing any affection.

The slave then handed him a heavy canvas sack. When he took the bundle he felt his nursemaid's familiar hands trace his before pulling back.

Somehow he knew that he would not see her familiar face again. The slave had out-lived her usefulness to his mother. He knew his mother would kill her because she knew too much.

His fingers traced the familiar daggers hidden just inside the bag. Over the years, his nursemaid secretly taught him how to use throwing knives and other small weapons. Throwing steel became as natural as launching fire.

He wanted to beg and plead. He wanted to protest the injustice. However, when he felt the hard blades, he knew that the slave had chosen her freedom...even if the price of freedom was death.

The slave bowed and backed away for the final time.

He wanted to stare...to lock in a final image. However, he forced himself to turn around and walk to the baths. He had three hours before having to leave on the morning tide.

* * *

The maid made her way to the staff waiting chamber just off the throne room.

Once she could have walked boldly into the throne room and demand a personal audience with Fire Lady Azula any time she felt like it.

Now, she would be taken care of as an afterthought. The only reason she would not be killed by some nameless executioner was that the Fire Lady would want to see the look in her eyes as she burned.

She remembered the moment of her fall from the games of power.

Her mother and father had trained her to hold station and honor above all. She grew up knowing that love and attachment were wasted emotions and blinded her to opportunities. She had once accompanied the Fire Lady on her quest to defeat the enemies of the Fire Nation. She helped the Fire Lady conquer Ba Sing Se. She sat at the Fire Lady's right hand and wielded a power of her own.

Once her name was whispered with nearly the same level of respect as the Fire Lady's. Now she had no name, no power, no honor.

Her fall was sudden, swift, and complete.

One evening, she dined with Fire Lady. The following morning, she had her tongue removed and working as a drudge slave cleaning the Fire Lady's chamber pot. She was spared execution because the Fire Lady wanted to see her spirit break. Azula wanted to see her suffer.

It was time for her to face the gods and her ancestors.

She did not break. She survived. Every indignity only made her more determined to live...To live for one final moment.

The guards has searched her before she allowed anywhere in the chamber. They pawed inside her mouth and orifices to ensure that she was not carrying any concealed weapons. Then they used her for their pleasure as many other used her after her fall from power.

What they did not know was that she did not need any weapons for her revenge. The Fire Lady had looked forward to this day for a very long time. So did this slave.

Two hours later, the Fire Lady's bodyguard led the slave to an outside courtyard. The guard unceremoniously striped the slave's clothes off her thin, scared body. No one wasted slave grab. Years of brutality had taught the slave to endure. The sun was warm but not uncomfortably so.

The Fire Lady walked up and stared her in the eyes.

For the first time in a long time, the slave stared right back at the sardonic misanthropic (darkly sarcastic hater of mankind) bitch that ruled the Fire Nation with a steel fist.

The slave smile and silently chuckled at the proud ruler of a nation that fell from its one insurmountable position. Her insolence was quickly rewarded.

_Smack_.

The Fire Lady's hand lit up. The hand moved and knocked the slave to the ground. Despite the pain, the slave stood up and smiled.

"You will pay for your importance..."

The slave simply smiled and gave the Fire Lady a short nod of the head.

_Smack_.

The Fire Lady had planned this day for over a decade. The Fire Lady had anticipated the fun that she would have. The slave vowed to deny the bitch her fun.

Eight hours later, the Fire Lady walked away from the smoking corpse in anger yelling insults. What was to be a source of pleasure for Azula now tasted like the ashes of the slave for the slave managed to steal the wind out of the Fire Lady's sails.


	5. Picking through the Tofs

**Washed Up Upon the Sand**

**Picking through the Tofs**

**By Pat Squared

* * *

**

_The__se__ idiots built the walls twice as high and twice as thick._

The new outer walls of the city succinctly summarized the earthbender mentality.

Prince Tetsuo hated the Earth Kingdom and he loathed the citizens of Ba Sing Se most of all. And they returned the favor. The locals hated the Fire Nation for destroying their illusions that they could just retreat behind the walls and no trouble would touch them. Just like the legendary turtle, at the first sign of trouble they would withdraw their head and limbs into an impenetrable shell. However what the turtle forgot was the fact that there were things that could and would crack the shell.

Twenty five years ago, his mother cracked the shell and made Ba Sing Se, the impenetrable city, into Na Sing Se, the penetrable city. Today, he entered the city like his mother did, via deception. However, it was much harder. Now the locals were much more observation about strangers in their cities, especially those with Fire Nation features. Prince Tetsuo could not hide the fact that he had golden eyes. So he played the part of a war baby.

Pretending to be angry at the entire world was the cornerstone of the act. Well, that was easy if you already hated it. From the moment he accidentally set his bed on fire at the age of four, his life had been one big failure. Despite countless hours spent in practice, he never measured up to his mother's high standards. He failed to earn the love of the one person who was supposed to love him unconditionally.

Ba Sing Se was the last place that the Blue Spirit appeared prior to his captivity in the Fire Nation. Here was where he would begin the hunt. There was one former Dai Li agent who met the Blue Spirit up and personal.

The Dai Li were disbanded and many were torn apart by the mobs after the Fire nation was forced to withdraw from Ba Sing Se. The Fire Nation controlled New Ozai, _the only proper name for the city_, for a few short months, but in that time made its mark. Even now, there were lingering signs of the changes imposed on the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation had rebuilt what was once the outer walls, now the middle walls with layered with steel to prevent earthbenders from tearing them down. Steel, not wood, was used to reinforce the newer construction in the New Outer Ring. And despite the local's attempts to hide the origins of their latest park, Prince Tetsuo recognized the training ground used by the Fire Nation garrison during the occupation of the city. There was no hiding an Agni Kai arena, even one plowed under the earth and overgrow by shrubbery.

However, Tetsuo had to be wary. Even posing as a half-breed, the locals resented anything reminding them of their greatest defeat. Half-breeds were a living reminder of Ba Sing Sie's collective shame. He could and would best two or maybe three earthbenders, but not even he could fight off a mob. He was dressed in what appeared to be locally made homespun. However, his clothes were a lie like his new life was a lie.

The _jingasa_ looked like the _sugegasa_, the conical straw hat worn by numerous peasants in both the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdoms, but was reinforced with layers of lacquered leather and a mesh steel mesh allowing it to double as a shield. Underneath he wore a _hachimaki_, a headscarf, to not only absorb his sweat, but hide his warrior lock from the world. He wore indigo-dyed _samue_ (jacket and loose pants) with a multiple layer silk and deer-leather undershirt to protect his body from slashes and stabbing. He wore canvas shoes with a flexible, thin rubber sole. Only the twin _dao_ (broadswords) on his side betrayed that he was a warrior and the _kaginawa_ (hooked rope made of hemp) hanging from the belt told the world that he was a hunter of men. The sleeves and bottoms of his trousers were tied to aid silent moment and prevent his clothing from catching on protrusions.

The locals hated bounty hunters as much as they hated the Fire Nation, but the bounty hunters were a necessary evil and thus tolerated in these troubled times. It was a trade for only the outcast and there was no one more fitting the mold of an outcast than a war baby, a mixed blood, a Fire Nation's bastard.

Tetsuo, known to the locals as Li Lang Jin (Li's Wolfman), was hunting a dangerous quarry. He was hunting a master earthbender who was wanted for killing several members of a very rich family. Success would net him enough to continue his hunt for the Blue Spirit and more importantly a reputation that would allow him to travel most of the know world with minimal interference.

In the slums of the outer city, he blended in with the locals. Here was where the war babies were relegated in the wall city where status and location were identical. The sewers washed out here and the stench was almost unbearable, even for one use to smelling burnt flesh.

The local tofsmen were out skimming the floating sewage for treasure. At various points the current would cause the sewerage to clump together into tofs. The tofsmen would break apart these tofs looking for something sellable. Each tofsman jealously guarded their turf and wearily eyed the hunter in their midst. When he walked by, they returned their focus back on the floating pile of garbage and human waste. However, the young man was carefully studying faces comparing them to a sketch hidden under his tunic.

The one at the end...the side with the least chance of picking _belonged_ to a man of the right age. He had similar features to the young man pictured in the poster, but twenty-five years of hard living, drinking, and brawling had rendered him almost invisible to the masses. It was the fact that the man did not bother to reset his nose that tipped off Tetsuo to the fact that he was still in hiding. It was an easy matter to yank a nose straight when it was broken. Only someone seeking to hide from the world would suffer such a disfiguring injury that any drunkard could set straight.

"I am looking for an old friend, Gwon. Someone that had not been seen in these parts since the walls fell."

The old man was startled. No one was suppose to know his name. His eyes were already probing for an escape route.

_You should have planned for this a long time ago old man._

It was obvious that this man would not long survive if things went south.

"Don't worry, Gwon. Rewards might take a while to be handed out but an old friend...someone rather commanding and rather terrifying sent me to rewards your years of loyalty. Off all the others, you were smart enough to lay low and wait for your mistresses orders. Soon the Fire Nation will seize Ba Sing Se. However there is someone who we need. All I need is a name. A name of a young tea server working for the Golden Dragon twenty five years ago."

The man who answered to the name Gwon visibly relaxed. Commanding and rather terrifying was the key phase.

"You ask in the wrong place. The young man is long dead. Besides, there must be at least a thousand Li's living in this quarter of Ba Sing Se."

"No. He is very much alive. He escaped Iron Mountain."

"Then there is one who can help you. However, it will not be easy. The seer will examine your motives. If you seek to kill or capture a man, she will not help. She only helps united lost or unrequited love. Find someone who he touched and left and maybe they can ask the oracle for you."

"Where is she?"

The tofsman coughed. Prince Tetsuo deftly handed the older man a small pouch. Inside was pao sho piece. Its marking was simple. A red box with an extended vertical line cutting the box in half. It was the mark of the red dragon.

"Take this to the Wang counting house and tell the doorman that you bear a message from the Traveler of the Unseen Roads. You will be rewarded for your loyalty, Gwon."

The tofsman was blinded by greed to suspect what kind of receiption would be in store for him.

Gwon was a liability and his mother always eliminated liabilities and those who failed her. Tetsuo knew all too well the legend of the scorpion and the blind dog. He learned the hard way to never ask for or blindly accept a gift from his mother. Too bad the former Dai Li agent will not live long enough to figure things out.

"Her name is Meng. She is a cloud reader and also reads palms. So far everyone of her fortunes came to pass so she is not a mere pretender. She lives in the middle ring near the Avatar's Zoo."

Tetsuo pondered the old man's words. He had hit a dead end. However he learned how to deal with dead end. In his mind he turned the playing board around and saw things from the other side's prespective. The Blue Spirit would seek anonymity and in doing so maybe spurn love.

"Was there any lone girls hanging about the shop?"

The Dai Li agent reflected back. The training of the Dai Li imposed near photographic memory on the subject's mind. This is what made the numerous watchers deadly efficient. The first to undergo mind manipulating was the Dai Li themselves. He recalled a report that was made twenty six years ago.

"Her name is Jin. She was the daughter of a tailor and is probably now a seamstress if she is not a housewife."

Tetsuo had studied maps for Ba Sing Se that were prepared by Fire Nation engineers during the occupation and knew how exactly the city was laid out. With the mentality of its people, Ba Sing Se was a city where promotional opportunity was rare. He knew where to start looking for this Jin. However, there were other questions he needed answered.

"Please tell me of the Blue Spirit."

"There is not much to say. My friend Chen was chasing a figure. The suspect vanished into thin air. He told me that the next thing that happened was that he found two _dao_, swords like yours, at his throat. All he asked was where Long Fe hid the Avatar's flying bison. He then knocked Chen out. That was it."

"Where is Chen?"

"Mob got to him and he was crushed to death. He was not willing to get dirty like I was and it cost him."

It was obvious from the shrug of his shoulders that morning Chen was not high on Gwon's to do list. Well when it came to Gwon's funeral, Tetsuo would not be attending or shedding any tears.

Tetsuo knew that he had to move on or the other tofsmen would remember his presence. Especially when Gwon would disappear. Soon another unfortunate soul would claim Gwon's place and seek his fortune digging through the shit of the rich.

Tetsuo had two names and a plan in mind. Hopefully, this plan would go better than the half dozen other abortied plans that he suffered in the hunt.

Now he had to find this Jin and get her willing to seek the Blue Spirit.


	6. Now You Know the Art

**Wash Up Upon the Sands**

**Know you know the art**

**By Pat Squared

* * *

**

Hell...it's easy to believe in a hell after his decades in the Iron Mountain Mines. Paradise...was something much harder to believe in for someone who lived in the bowels of hell.

The offshore breeze and the warm air told the wanderer that it was still night-time on this island.

The old man walked up hill using a fallen branch as his staff.

He feared remembering...yet he had to remember why he was being pulled to the south.

Even sightless, he could feel the glances of suspicions that the few who were already up were giving him. Even here his kind was despised.

"Go back home, old man. We don't need your kind to start another fire."

Fire...his birthright and curse...the beginning and end of his existence.

Fire saved him from the digging. The earth benders were used in the digging into the shifting earth of the dormant volcano. He was placed in the smelter. He was given a little more food and better living conditions so he could keep the great fires under control.

Even blinded, the fires taught him the alchemy of ore, coal, and fire. He knew enough to tend any forge in this new free world, but the chains of his past bound him.

He could not move one without something that was long since removed from his memories. He was waiting for something that would allow him to be truly free...even if it's the cold hand of death itself.

He was not yet strong enough to travel further. The sea had nearly extinguished his flame. Now he had to husband what little _qi_ he had left. He had to prepare himself for the remainder of his life.

A wordless lullaby haunted his mind as he created the hill. Here he will wait for another sign. The place was perfect. The perfect place to greet the sun he had not felt in decades.

* * *

"Five more minutes mom," muttered a tired Hanaye. 

Right now was not the time for her to reenter the real world. Here she was getting swept off her feet by some mysterious stranger who was wildly professing his love for her.

A wave crashed down and Hanaye was sputtering.

Her mother was standing there with an empty pitcher of water. There were times that Hanaye hated water and this was one of them.

"Your patient wandered away sleepy head. Find him."

Hanaye was muttering new cursewords are her mother walked away to the kitchen.

_At least you don't have to cook for dad and your older brothers tonight. They never seem to stop eating._

Cursing all delusional old geezers, Hanaye got dressed and left the house.

It was noon before she found the blind man.

He was sitting there facing the sun like a sunflower.

"Why did you run away old man? Did you know what I had to do to find you?"

He merely sat mutely and focused on a leaf.

"Didn't you hear what I said? I spent all day looking for you!"

The old man actually bowed toward the sun.

"If I did not know, I would swear you were like I use to be."

"Well you are coming with me...Hey wait...what you do mean?"

The old man smiled, "Would you perchance have any tea?"

Hanaye threw up her arms and screamed, "What's up with old men and tea? I swear I will marry the first man who hates the stuff so I don't have to deal with boiled leaf juice ever again! Come home with me and keep up."

The blind man merely waited.

"I am already home."

"What do you mean?"

"I am here alone with an old friend I have not met in a long time. I am in the presence of a beautiful young girl. And I am breathing air without soot or dust. There is a clean stream nearby. Welcome to my new home, Ayume."

"How did you..."

"The flames see and hear everything they shine upon. You just have to learn to listen."

The blind man summoned a flame, "It's the same for every element I hear. If you only listen, it will share with you many things...there are no secrets...our elements speak to each and everyone of us...it's just we don't listen."

"Then tell me the great secret to listening oh wise one!"

"I once heard a tale about a loyal son. His father was aging and would soon be unable to perform the tasks required to keep the family business operating. The son was panicking for the healers said the old man must relax.

"One day the son goes to the father and asks his father to teach him the family business. 'Father, you are not well and we need another breadwinner in the family.' The father said, 'Son, go to school and learn your figures. You are not to follow me. You are to become a moneylender like your sister's husband.' 'But father, you worked hard to make us a home and raise us. If what you did was good enough to raise us, then I want to do the same when I have a family of my own.'

"'Son,' replied the father, 'I have kept you ignorant of what I did for a living for it is most shameful. Lending money or even digging graves is more dignified than what I did.' The son did not care what his father did. He had to carry on the family tradition.

"The father seeing that he could not sway his son told the son to wear dark work clothing and meet him in the woods north of the lord's estate at the sunset."

Hanaye knew that she already took far too long and that her mother would have words for her. She figured that if she waited the old man would tire out like other old men and would meekly follow her back home after rambling on and on.

"The loyal son waited, but the father did not show. So long did he wait that the son fell asleep. The son awoke to see his father putting on a mask. 'Son,' said the father, 'I am the notorious Blue Spirit. I could steal anything. Your mother's necklace, I stole from the Northern Water Tribe. Your sister's earrings, I stole from the royal museum at Ba Sing Se. Hell, the lucky pendent you wore once graced the neck of the Fire Lady herself. Now I am an old man and can't ran and jump like I use to. I cannot fight off dozens of guards or evade a thousand trackers. Now I must pick my _clients_ with more care. Normally I would avoid this place. A smart dog never soils the place he sleeps and a smart thief does the same. However, it's the only place I can train you. Tonight you will learn to steal lady garments.'"

"'What?' the son said, stunned that the frail old man was the legendary theft feared by all. Even his brother-in-law feared that the Blue Spirit would slip in one night and steal all the gold from his fortified strong room. The son was awed that his father was such a legend. 'Don't worry. Lord Kenjiro is an old friend. I once trained by taking from his grandfather, now it's your turn.' 'But dad, Lord Kenjiro has a store room full of gold. Why _kimonos_?' 'Gold is heavy. Jewelry is too unique to fence. However...lady garments always sell...especially the intimates.'

_Gods above __and oni _(demons)_ below __the old man must have been a pervert. He is fixated on intimates.__ The only thing that is worse was when Uncle Iroh seduced and stole away the maid._

Hanaye tried unsuccessfully to banish the image from her mind.

The blind wanderer continued, "Well, the son grit his teeth and snuck behind his father. The pair snuck past a dozen warriors and servants to find themselves in the wardrobe rooms. 'Son, hurry, grab the silk kimonos with the silver and golden threads. Fold them up carefully and wrap them with the table linens. We will leave pretending we are night servants carrying out the laundry.' The son saw the merit in the father's plan and climbed into the wardrobe. The father quietly shut the wardrobe and wisphered, 'Be quiet...a servant is coming.' The son sat still for five hundred heartbeats. Suddenly the alarm gong was ringing. He heard his father screaming, 'My lord, the thief is in the wardrobe. Be careful, he is armed.'

"'Thank you old friend, you have earned your reward,' the lord declared. The son hid deeper in the kimonos. The door was opened and two swordsmen walked in looking for the son. The son screamed and launched fire at the swordsman and ran. He ran as fast as he could. He saw the well and tossed in two of the priceless kimonos into the well.

"'He's fallen in the well,' the son screamed before disappearing into the woods. The guards saw the kimonos in the water and laughed believing that the thief fell and drowned in the well. It was sunrise before the son returned home. Understandably upset at his father, the young man snarled, 'How could you betray your blood?'' The old man smiled and merely said, 'Now you truly know the art.'"

Hanaye looked at the sun. The old man already wasted three quarters of her day between her efforts to find him and his incessant new for zen parables.

"It's time to go."

"No...make me."

Hanaye looked on in shock as a blast of fire nearly scorched her face.

"Are you nuts?"

The blind man crackled, "You are young and have a good pair of eyes."

He then launched another blast. even blind, the fire had a way of finding her.

She raise her arm and a wave of water from the nearby stream doused his flames. She then flicked her hand and a stream of water whipped him in the face. He got up, bowed, and in vain tried to brush the mud off.

"Are you crazy! You tried to..."

"Now you know the art."

The blind man was laughing at the sputtering girl.

"What is it?"

"Well, what did you learn?"

"Don't trust old coots. Never swamp ski attached to the family pet in the Swamp Tribes. Don't trust Uncle Iroh around pretty young girls. Don't eat Ayume's cooking. What else...that you are totally nuts!"

"Didn't you master the water whip..."

Hanaye paused. She replayed the fight. Only then did she realize what she did.

"Oh...you are the best sensei. Can you teach me more please?"

The old man shook his head, "All I know is fire. I rise with the sun and even decades in the darkness I could still feel it. You are a waterbender. All I know is that you rise with the moon. All I can teach you is the basics of mediation. It was risky for me to use fire, but I saw no other way."

"Yes _sensei_."

"Let us go home and don't call me _sensei_. There are no sensei's...just travelers on the path."


	7. Seer and the Cat

Washed Up Upon the Sands

_The Seer and the Cat_

_By Pat Squared

* * *

_The sands of time were steadily falling through his fingers. 

It's been three months since he was sent on this quest. All he suffered were three months of failure. Three months of wondering if he would ever be allowed back home.

However the crown prince had one lead...the name of a girl that loved one of the faces of the Blue Spirit and the location of a powerful fortune teller.

Li Lang Jin, Prince Tetsuo's alter ego, already had a reputation as a very effective bounty hunter among the scum of society. However, his reputation did not extend to the middle and upper classes. To them he was just another _war baby_ polluting the purity of their city.

He walked into the seamstress shop where Jin was working. He spotted the middle age woman busy directing a small army of girls.

"Hello good sir, how can I help you?"

Prince Tetsuo slid off his hat and bowed to the lady, "My father spoke of you fondly, and now I know why. I am sorry to bother you, but I hoped that maybe an old friend of his has some information on his whereabouts."

She glanced at his face for one minute before muttering the name he wanted to hear..."Lee..."

The lady was pale and the Prince sat her down on a stool.

"You look just like him...minus that birthmark. Are you in the circus? He was a juggler, too?"

The young man resisted the urge to smack the babbling old lady.

"I took after my mother. She was more of a knife person."

_A knife to the kidneys before she would slit your belly and leave you with your entrails spilling out for the world to see as an object lesson in why you never trust a scorpion. _

"So you are in the circus...I must I kind of suspected your father was kidding seeing just how bad he was at juggling."

The crown prince just wanted her to go to the damn seer so he can get what he needed.

"Were in the circus, mamm. My father is ill. Five years ago, he was injured in the head when a wagon...Sometimes he forgets things. After my mother passed on four months ago, he became very sick. He had a fever then a brain fit that addled his mind. He kept on uttering that he was late to work at the Golden Dragon and that Uncle Mushi would be upset. He also kept on saying that he had to go on a date with you Auntie Jin."

"I have not heard that name in years. How is your Uncle Mushi?"

Tetsuo had to keep the conversation on topic. He did not know anything about this Mushi character save the he was the tea master at the Golden Dragon for a short time before disappearing when his mother deposed the Earth King.

"He died when I was six. Went to bed and never woke up. Please, I beg of you, can you help me find him. There is a seer near the Avatar's zoo..."

"You mean he still likes me. I thought when he disappeared I scared him off."

_Take a deep breath. You need her and she is now someone that will be missed if you try to silence her._

"Mamm, you are either born into the circus or you joined one to run away from your past. I am the former...my father was the latter. You see my grandmother...it's still a delicate situation for my family."

Jin's face froze as she tried unsuccessfully to gather the hints he was dropping.

"My father hated my grandfather for what he did to my grandmother. Unlike many other war babies...my father was able to punish my grandfather for his crimes. The problem was that killing a Fire Nation commander carries a high bounty.

"You mean he was a freedom fighter."

Tetsuo shook his head, "What band would let an untrained fire bender hang out with them?"

"Li...a fire bender...that explains the fountain. No wonder he was afraid."

Jin's eyes were misty at the memory.

"My father was never trained. All he could ever do was light and douse candles and thankfully he did not leave me any of that _gift._ My little sister...She set the tent on fire all the time until she learned to shut it off. There were times we had to run away to avoid the mobs. I only wish I could resurrect my grandfather so I can introduce him to my knives."

Jin shuddered at the thought.

"Please...my father is alone...wandering the world with no hint of... I don't ask much. Just one evening of you time to visit Madam Meng's."

Jin looked at Tetsuo...

"I'm sorry for what happened. Even though I grew up and found another to love...a girl's heart still holds a peace for her first love. If fate was different, I would be proud to be your mother. You are everything a good son could aspire to be. Let me close up the shop and then we will see Meng the seer together."

* * *

Meng looked critically at the old, grey cat curled around her crystal ball.

"Auntie Woo...It's not my fault you reincarnated as a cat. I mean you always were kind of katty after all. I take good care of you. I brush your fur twice a day so you don't have to hack up fur-balls like the other cats. I feed you so much you don't have to hunt birds or mice. All I ask is that you let me do what you taught me to do without having to uncurl you from the crystal ball."

The only response was the angry swish of the cat's tale.

"Don't make me use the water on you. Better yet if you continue swishing that tale, I will just have to try the cutest pink ribbon to the tip. Then you can wave it around like those rich ladies wave around parasol."

The cat knowing that its owner would do such a thing, looked up, gave a meow of disgust, threw her owner a glare, point her nose up in the air, and walked off as if she was the Empress of the Universe who just stepped in animal dropping yet trying to hold up her dignity. Meng knew better than to laugh.

"Let's see..."

Meng had once doubted if she had any gifts in the prediction of fortunes. Now she could do it if she followed exactly the methods Aunt Wu taught her.

However, she never had a vision pop into her head...At least until last night.

_A scorpion guards a secret. A son on a quest not his own. Families reunited to only be torn apart. Pain...conflict...love. A crossroad of destiny…one path in the past…another in the future. A broken mind. A noble sacrifice already made. The scales are being weighed for actions now and post. Fire and water. Earth and steel. The fall of the old and the rebirth of the new. Death walks in. The liar speaking the truth. _

Quickly Meng grabbed her brush and ink well the second she awoke so she would not forget her vision. She did not have time to fetch a piece of paper. Instead she painted it on her white and blue porcelain teapot. She then poured the tea into three cups.

Bad things always comes in threes.

No sooner did she pour the tea did two figures walk in. Aunt Wu had ambushed the leg of the young lad and Meng had to disengage that cat from the bleeding leg.

"We seek news of my first love," asked the middle age woman.

Meng look at the young man. Aunt Wu could be a pain, but she knew when someone was lying. She always attacked the legs of the liars.

"And you?"

"...news of my father."

Meng motioned the lady closer and examined her face, pulse, and breathing pattern. There was no lie in her heart. Meng then examined the palm.

"Jin, you once loved a man cursed by the gods to wander without a place to rest."

Meng slid a tea leaf into the cup. It immediately sank.

"Fate was not kind to him. He loved and had his heart twice torn. Death toys with him promising salvation and then leaves him to suffer more. He surrendered his entire being to the flames so a part of him can be kept whole, but in the end he was broken."

Jin gasped, "Is there any hope?"

"There is always hope…no matter how misguided it might be in the grand scheme of things. It is what make life worth living. Soon the one called Lee will be free, but you will never see him again in this turning of the Wheels of Time. You will have one more child…born before the next spring festival. You will soon see love bite your eldest son and he will make you a grandmother earlier than you thought possible. You will live a full life with many grandkids and great grandkids. You will even see a few of your great-great-grandchildren before your soul travels the wheel to its next destination. Your husband loves you very much but is feeling neglected of late. I suggest letting your kids spend the night at some friends. You and he should take a stroll by the fountain. The fountain will be lit beautiful like it was in your youth. Don't tell him of your Li. Those memories of the times you shared are uniquely yours and should remain so."

Jin looked at Meng, "How much?"

"This one is free for you."

Meng could sense the frustration and disappointment that the young liar felt. His journey was beginning and not ever she could see where it ended. _The son on a quest not his own... _

_"_Li Lang Jin...please stay. We need to speak about your journey."

* * *

_Gods above and oni (Demons) below – Her words are more twisted than Li and Lo's._

"Bah on all fortune tellers. Tell _Zhenwu_ (god of fates) that I make my own fate. I don't need some pampered deity to smooth my way. I will fornicate in their shrines. Double fornicate on their alters."

Warnings...in nearly sixteen years he had already survived six attempts to take his life. Three he knew where tests his mother devised. Even now he kept an eye in case she sought to test him again.

He wanted to burn the seer and her hut to the earth, but her home was made of stone and any burning would proclaim to the world that he was a fire bender.

_Find Mushi and he will take you to the one you seek…although the purpose of your search will change. You will make a choice…for your sake…chose better than your father._

Tetsuo did not know anything about the man who sired him. His mother told him that he did not need to know since his sire was killed in the Battle of the Black Sun. Because his mother was of royal blood, his claim to the dais was secured as long as he was alive.

_I would not be surprised if mom killed my sire because of morning sickness. She did kill that maid over spilling rose water when the maid tripped on the rug. _

Now he had to find this Mushi. He looked forlornly at the tea shop. True masters of _chado_ (way of tea) were rare. Some aficionado would give him the lead he desired. The problem was he had to pretend to like the drink that he hated most in the world.

_Watered down boiled leaf juice. Bah._

Steeling himself for the challenge, Tetsuo took in a depth breath before walking in the tea house.

At least there was one thing good that happened tonight. When he walked out he punted that damn cat out the window.


	8. Memories

**Washed Up Upon the Sand **

**Memories **

**By Pat Squared **

* * *

Ty Lee once dreamt of leaving the fire nation and running off to join the circus forever.

Now that she left the Fire Nation, her childhood dreams became bitter ashes.

Her aura was no longer pink. In fact it was dirty…grimy with a lifetime of disappointments.

The former Fire Nation duchess watched as her twin daughters performed handstands and cartwheels for the sheer fun of it. She smiled, but inside the memories of her past was hurting her and would do so for the rest of her life.

She never got to kiss the Southern Water Tribe boy who stole her heart. At least in the way she wanted to kiss him.

She watched as Zuko was broken and molded into a mindless, animalistic creature devoid of any sense of honor.

She had to watch her six sisters and family killed because of Azula's paranoia.

She had to watch as her only friend Mai was broken.

She hated herself most of all for running away and doing nothing to stop Azula.

Ty Lee remembered the worst part…

_A manical laugh woke Ty Lee up. _

_Before the acrobat could respond four quick jabs robbed her of her ability to move. Now Ty Lee knew exactly why Azula wanted to learn the art of paralyzing an opponent. The lie of capturing rather than killing assassin was only a lie that a self-delusional fool like the old Ty Lee could only swallow. _

_"An heir and a spare. Now that I have an heir in the nursery, I need the spare." _

_"I can't…I'm still…" _

_"Your fault that you could not get over that wolf-tail boy. Don't worry…you might come to love this." _

_Azula pinched her nose so she could not breath. Ty Lee remembered holding her breath, but in the end she gasped for air and that was when Azula poured the drug down her mouth. _

The last thing she remembered of that night was the maniacal laughter of Zuko and the pain as he ripped away her innocence.

Once she hated Zuko for what he did for those few short months she was looked in the cell with him. However, time and wisdom taught her how to forgive the man who forced his lusts on her body. The creature that attacked her and raped her was not the Zuko that she once knew. No one could be with the elixir that Azula kept her _favorite pet_ on. A sip contained enough drugs to make a timid mouse go and attack a pride of lion-bears. A side effect was that the natural lusts that were a part of any post-pubestent male were not keep in check by any hint of a conscience.

Ty Lee looked at her eleven-year-old daughters. In many ways her daughter resembled a young Azula, but thankfully her children was more like their father than their psychopathic aunt.

Ming had her father's eyes and stubborn streak. Lian was more like the way Ty Lee use to be. However both children had also inherited her father's birthright of fire. Thankfully both the girls had a least a part of their mother's spirit. Ty Lee could not imagine raising two children perpetually angry at the universe the way Zuko was.

_One night, someone forget to drug the pair. Ty Lee was getting heavier and weaker with the demands of the new lives growing inside of her womb. She looked over and saw Zuko huddling in the corner. He was shaking himself, trying in vain to wake up from his living nightmare. His right eye was wet. His burn left eye could not shed any tears. _

_"Please kill me. I don't want to live anymore. Please promise me that you will kill me like my mommy would kill me. Mommy will kiss me in the head, tell me that I will be in a happy place, and smother me." _

_After begging to the unseen spirits, he noticed her existence as if for the first time. _

_"Please kill me, Ty Lee. I can't….I can't live like this…I don't' deserves your mercy, but please kill me before she makes me hurt you again. Please end it. Please, I failed at every good thing that came into my life. My mother died for me and look what I became. My uncle gave up everything for me and I betrayed him. I could have stopped Azula in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se…but I…One glance…one glance and I let the world go to hell. I loved her and when he…I could not stand a chance against the avatar. He claimed her and she would love him more than she ever could someone like me. I hated him. I hated him for having friend that would give their lives to protect him. Even the Kyoshii warriors would give up their lives for the _bison_ of the man they only met for a few hours. I had no one. I just wanted someone to love me…was that too much to ask for…Azula made sure that I hurt the ones I loved. She captured the one I loved and made me…I tried to fight. I stabbed my father in the back. The ceiling collapsed on me but I could not die. Death took a lot of souls that day, but why couldn't I go along. I wanted to go, but mommy would not let me go. Mom brought me back…then Azula summoned the healers so I could not go. Can't you see that I don't belong. Mai…she hated me…She loved me once...that I know,...but in the end even Mai grew to hate me. If Uncle saw me...he would kill me...I would welcome his dragon breath just to be free of this life. Even the one who loved me grew to hate me. They all hated me! Mother, Katara, Mai, and know even you of all people hate me. Please Ty Lee…just one blow and I can be free. I want to kill myself, but the drugs won't let me. Please kill me gently like mommy would. If you want, I can kill you first if you promise to come back and kill me…please kill me. You don't have to be gentile…please just kill me." _

_Zuko was her tormentor. He used her body to sate the unnatural lusts the drugs infected on his body. She would pass out from the abuse and wake up to find him still hurting her...still using her damaged flesh. However, this was the first time she said a spark of humanity in the creature that she had once cursed. He was perhaps that one most tortured in these dungeons. It was that moment that Ty Lee understood the ancient Fire Sage's quote, _**'The worst evil a man can do is to force a good man to do evil.'**

_Ty Lee remembered hugging the remnants of the man she once knew to be the most honorable man in the world. Zuko had many mistakes in his life, but he always tried to act with honor. She just held him as he cried…he knew…she knew that soon they wound pour more of the drug down his throat and he would revert back to the beast. She wept, cursing Azula for destroying everything that made live worth living.. _

_Days, weeks would pass between these rare moments of lucidity. They plotted their escape. She was seven moons into her pregnancy when they were ready. They thought they had a chance. _

_Azula, somehow, planned it all out. It was a game to break Ty Lee of her last hopes. Azula and the Rough Rhinos had the pair surrounded. _

_"Kill the traitor, but keep the wench and her bastard alive," Azula commanded, "Better yet, I want them both alive so they can suffer more. Get them for me." _

_Azula watched as Ty Lee found herself breaking down. The stress and demands of pregnancy had destroyed her ability to fight. Zuko was holding only a sharpened bit of metal he worked on during his few lucid moments. It was suicide…but suicide was better than leaving her child to be raised by that beast as its own. _

_Zuko dropped the knife and prostrated himself on the ground like he once did at that disastrous Agni Kai. _

_"Zuzu, giving up now. That is so unlike the Zuzu I knew. Once you would have fought on even knowing that you don't stand a chance. The Rough Riders are great soldiers. They are also good singers. But they did not earn their name for riding their War-Rhinos. No…the Rough Riders are known for what they do to any unfortunates they seize. They are equal opportunity. You will be their bottom boy and get to clean up after they ride Ms. Pink over here. They have to be delicate with Ty Lee, but I am allowing them free rein with you. Drink and your _girlfriend_ will be unharmed." _

_Zuko was trembling as he accepted the drink. Ty Lee know that he hated it. In the past they had to force it down his throat. Now he was drinking it. _

_Zuko took the drink into his mouth. Suddenly he spun around and keeping his back to her, let loose a breath of flame that burned their pursuers. Even Azula got singed by the dragon's flame. Ty Lee actually laughed when she saw the blisters already bursting on the Fire Lady's face. _

_The five Rough Riders were on the ground, dying or dead. _

_"Run…I can only hold her off for so long. Go and promise me that you will not let our child suffer for my sins." _

_Ty Lee remembered running in a big looping circle. She had learned enough from chasing the Avatar that running in straight lines was an easy way to be caught. _

_The all too familiar sounds of lighting and thunder claps told Ty Lee that Azula was in the fight. _

_Ty Lee found herself lying on her side near the crest of a hill. She peeked over and the wished she did not. _

_Zuko's screams were audible as Azula burnt out his eyes. _

_He was going to suffer. _

_Then Azula reached up into the sky and brought down a massive bolt of lightning and directed it into Zuko's chest. He fell onto the hard earth. _

_At least Zuko would be free from her in his next life. _

_The memories of what Azula did would scar Ty Lee for the rest of her days. All she prayed for every day is that Azula would never find her daughters and do to them what was done to her._

"Azula can't reach them here. Ayume and I will protect you and the kids..."

Ty Lee sobbed.

Even safe for the past twelve years, could Ty Lee ever feel safe.

"There...there...come in and have some herbal tea."

Ty Lee hated it. She hated the fact that sometimes she lost it...that sometimes the tears just came out. Sometimes it was all she can do to hide the tears from her daughters.

A part of her feared that this was all a dream...a trick that she will wake up back in the dudgeons. She feared that Azula was using the old Dai Li trick of hypnotizing victims and programming them with false memories. She witnessed Azula doing it to an unfortunate soul. He was so happy. He believed that he had...then Azula woke him up. Ty Lee was forced to watch a lot of men broken physically with hot irons and scourges...however to watch a man's spirit destroyed in an instant was truly terrifying.

Even in the embrace of Zuko's uncle, Iroh, Ty Lee could not ever feel safe. There was nowhere to feel safe. Even a thousand miles and twelve years later, Azula managed to torture Ty Lee every day.

Ty Lee staggered back to her room praying that when she awoke that she would not wake up to the reality that she knew was waiting for her.

She _knew_ that her escape...her twin daughters...being safe was all an illusion. Azula would wake her up. Azula would hurt her the moment she began to believe the past twelve years were real. As long as she did not believe that it was real, Azula would leave her here so she can suffer in a past of happiness.

She wanted to believe...she wanted this to be real...she could not. She did not deserve it. She had hurt too many and let too many be hurt to ever deserve happiness again.

* * *

Being chased for two years by the most determined angry prince in the world gave the swords-master of Kyoshii Island a sixth sense. Despite being the _meat and sarcasm guy_ on the _Boomer Gang_, Sokka had a mind that could, on occasion, think outside the box and put together a solution to the knottiest of problems.

Something was not right about the man who washed up upon the shore a few short weeks ago.

Sokka knew from seeing the condition of some prisoners that prolonged torture would strip them of their past. No one…not even the best Northern Water Tribe healers…knew why or how it happened or even how to treat it. However, no one would doubt that the man's claims to not recall anything before the mines were not true. He did not need Toph's ability to read to determine that truth. No man could remain entirely sane after all the damage that was done to him.

However there were other things that set Sokka on edge.

The scared man was a fire bender. Sokka had witnessed the blind man talking to the flame in much the same way his sister would talk to the water when she believed that she was alone. Toph too would communication with the earth by stomping her feet. It was something that he had seem ever bender naturally do.

The man was unnaturally peaceful. He seemed too..._un-fire-bender-like_ for Sokka to let his guard down.

The man was lately spending a lot of time alone with his daughter. The last time a fire bender spent time alone with a family member was a disaster...

_There was blood...so much blood that the woolen could not absorb it all. There was so much blood that the ladies attending the birth were already spreading sawdust on the floor to absorb the blood. _

_Births were not supposed to be this way. _

_Only the wail of a newborn told Sokka that Katara's final sacrifice made a difference...the problem was that she sacrificed everything for the bundled child. _

_However, Sokka did not want a nephew or niece. He did not want to see the baby. He wanted 'Tara the Seal Pup'. He wanted his dominating younger sister to yell at him and complain about washing his underwear. _

_Sokka wanted to hurt the bastard responsible for breaking his sister's spirit...for destroying everything good about her...for killing her...for contaminating _his_ family with the blood of the monster in the world. _

Zuko, son of Ozai, great grandson of Sozen the Warmonger...

_Sokka had long since mastered the blade. He learned not only to kill...but he mastered the art of slowly carving an opponent to pieces while letting his foe believe he still had a chance. Sokka wanted to defeat the former Fire Nation prince. He wanted to break him...he wanted to see that scum beg as he used that sword to slice that thing's flesh and spirit into ribbons. _

_Sokka looked at the results of Katara's final battle. The child was a little girl with a coca and milk complexion. A pair of yellow eyes looked out at him. Sokka knew that there would be no water-bender to replace the sister that was taken from him. The eyes said it all...his niece was replacement for the bastard that raped his sister. Katara died to only bring another cursed fire bender into this world. _

_It was with relief that Sokka left Katara child with Iroh. It was better that way for everyone. Iroh would have a granddaughter that he would never otherwise have. The child would learn her art from perhaps one of the best in the world. And Sokka would not have to look upon the same golden eyes that killed his little sister every day and grow to hate the child even more for her father's crimes. _

Sokka did not want the same to happen to his youngest child.

Before the blind man was washed ashore, Hanaye was distant from the family. Sokka knew all too well about being the odd one out from his travels. Hanaye was like him. Somehow despite not having any earth bending talents of her own, Suki managed to pass down her grandfather's talent to the rest of the children. Even in Kyoshii, where earth bending was not as prevalent as on the mainland, not having the same talents as the other kids made one ostracized.

Being a water bender, Hanaye was ostracized by the other kids. Sokka could not help it...he tried to get his other kids to do stuff, but _no one wanted to play with the baby_. Suki taught Hanaye the traditional warrior arts of Kyoshii and he taught Hanaye what he could about the swords...but Hanaye was empty.

_'Tara...why did you have to leave us. We needed you and you left us. I promised to not drink any cactus water if you only return and help Hanaye._

However, the help for Hanaye came from the most unlikely source...a broken fire bender was now his daughter's guru and the irony of fate had rankled Sokka.

"Honey...you are going to crinkle up your face if you keep doing that. Hanaye has a friend...someone she can..."

Sokka did not want to hear it. Sokka did not want to hear of too many things of late.

It was time to distract the wife so she won't lecture him to death.

"The kids are out of the house. Let's see if we can fit in the old armor."

Suki's ears perked up at the all too familiar code word.

"Let me think...the last time you said it, it cost me ten moons (9 months) of having your brat kick my bladder, mood swings, and you passing out. Okay...let's do it. I want to see you pass out again."

Sokka's mind was naturally distracted from his prior thoughts, but even when _sparing_ on old practice mat, a part of his mind was still gathering clues and trying to assemble them into coherence.

* * *

Her father's room was empty.

She had long ago burnt everything in this room.

Here she was conceived.

Here she was made into a monster that not even her mother would love.

_Who needs love when the world fears you? _

It had been a long time since she set foot in this room.

Now the only remains were her memories.

Azula drank the plum wine from the jar in a most peasant-like fashion.

She had succeeded. She had failed.

The throne of the Fire Nation was hers. Not even the most hidebound admiral would dispute that fact. She had managed to defeat all the threats to her power.

The avatar and other nations left her alone as long as she did not invade her neighbors.

She had the unquestioning obedience of her subjects from lowest peasant to her heir.

She had won. She was at the top and was nearly ready to climb to the peaks of power.

Azula had planned and plotted. She would accomplish what her ancestor Sozin the Great had failed to do. She would lay low an avatar and conquer.

Unlike the last time, there will be no big armies...no overt sign.

Just puppets in place until it was far too late for anyone to stop her.

Azula replayed her plans in her mind. Not even her admirals and generals knew that she was preparing.

Pai sho...there was more than one way to win. Her uncle favored the White Lotus strategy. Others favored the using the Honors. However, she favored using the immovable eye strategy. Low tiles by themselves were worthless, but bind four into the immovable eye and they can even take down dragons and avatars.

_Thank you for teaching me that the greatest structures can tear themselves apart if you cut a few critical braces, Avatar._

She still remembered that defeat at the wall. She still remembered Mai's defiance for not chasing the down the avatar's friends into the sludge pumps. Mai was always defiant...but in the end Azula got what she needed from the _dark bitch_.

It was fitting. Mai loved Zuko. Azula laughed at the memories of what happened when Mai questioned her in front of her advisors.

_Losing your tongue did not matter...you did not speak much anyways. Zuzu did the rest of the job for me, Mai. _

Mai's fate became the ultimate warning to the rest of the Fire Nation court. Azula would not banish subjects. Shipping out your foes was too dangerous. You needed to put your foes were they will do you the most good.

Zuzu was a good example.

Azula suppressed a laugh. The prince with an over developed sense of honor became nothing but a monster by her bidding. Her mistake was in letting him outside her reach.

However Zuzu was too dangerous to leave in the palace...even in a half-bestial state.

Men were beasts.

No matter how civilized they acted, they were beasts who existed to rut. That is all they did...filthy sinking beast who rut...rut...rut...when they can't get it from one they seek it form another...filthy beasts...even Zuzu was a beast...he was no different for all his self delusions about honor...he was no better than grandfather and father.

Azula despised all men. They were weak. They were all weak thinking with their lusts...filthy perverted lusts that only weakened them.

Filthy lusts...she remember the screams and the moans. She remembered the tears and the shame. She was broken down and made stronger in this room. However she could not shed the memories of her weakness.

"I am stronger than you ever were. You had an empire handed to you on a golden platter. You left me nothing and yet I will win in the end. All you will be is a historical footnote...Father."

Father had made her a monster unloveable by even her mother. Father had destroyed her childhood. Father was dead...killed by Zuko. Zuko had cheated her out of delivering her father to the hell she had planned for him.

Zuko was strong, but misguided. He was a mean war rhino, un-broken despite being lashed nearly to death, but he had levers that could be manipulated. Mother made him weak...pathetic. However, Azula knew better than to underestimate her brother. Zuko was weak, but he was dangerous. His anger weakened him and prevented him from being the fire bender he could have been. However, he was all too deadly...too stubborn to quit.

Azula traced the scars on her face...Zuko had managed to acquire Uncle Iroh's Dragon Breath technique during his captivity and used it on her. Azula still remembered the healers cutting away layers of scar tissue to prevent permanent disfigurement. Even twelve years later, they had to scrap her face every morning to prevent the scars from coming back.

Zuko was now out there. Just because she personally burnt out his eyes did not make him any less dangerous. The Blue Spirit myth still unnerved the world and Azula knew that if Zuko ever mastered his anger then the Blue Spirit would be the candle to Zuko's fire storm.

Taming such a Zuzu would be a wonderful challenge in an otherwise boring life. If not, his children would be entertaining foes. There was no way she would ever surrender the dais to one of Zuzu's bastards.

* * *

The blind man focused his attention on the flames.

The sight would be hypnotic to most eyes and lull more to rest.

However, he could not see.

Instead he reached out with his awareness. There was a pure communion with the fire. Fire knew no love, hated, honor, shame, or envy. Fire was pure...untouched by men until someone such as himself set it to task.

This fire was must like the fires he tended during his time in the mines save for being much smaller. This was not the fire used to smelt the raw ore, but rather to finish the weapons his host made.

The fire told him many things. Unlike the master smiths of the Fire Nation, there was no love for the element that made this forge master's art possible. In fact, there was a profound hatred for the element. The master forced fire rather than utilizing fire's natural desires.

The bellows were built all wrong. The forge was layered up with too much fuel cutting into the air that fire needed to breath.

The fire was dying. It did not deserve death. He had once heard were their was life...there is water. The same thing could be said for fire. Without the sun, plants would not grow. Animals would be able to eat the plants. There would be no light. There would be no rains. Without fire, life will cease to be.

He reach into the forge and withdrew a warm coal. He carefully wrapped the coal with rice straw and whispered to the fire to save itself. the flame let to the straw-wrapped coal.

"Don't be greedy little one. You just have to wait until I can take you back to the hearth. There you would find plenty of coal to eat."

She was looking at him like he was some kind of guru. It was funny and annoying. However something in him compelled him to share.

"First and foremost you have to love your element. Even the smallest expressions are worth examining."

"What is there to learn via a dying ember?"

"Who says the ember is dying needlessly? It gave us warmth, light. It provided the heat so your father could forge another blade. In small portion it is useful. Try using a wild fire to cook or keep you warm at night. Master the little thing and then you will see that the big things are made up of a lot of little things."

"Then what should I study."

"Study the morning dew, the rain drops, the sweat off your brow. Study how water permeates life. Study then how fire and air permeates life. Without all the elements life doesn't exist. Be mindful of all and preconceive nothing."

Hanaye walked off to finish her daily chores as the blind man studied his host's forge. The blind man was indebited to the chieftain of this place. Even if the chieftain was not fond of him, the blind man knew that he owed a duty. The mines had striped the blind man of his memories, but he still knew how to build and run forges. The blind man hated the Iron Mountain Mines. He hated the cruel overseers who demanded incessant production levels. Today, would be the first day he worked at a forge as a free man.

And he was never happier.

* * *

Tetsuo hummed a wordless melody.

Unlike the other children he never learned the words to the lullabies that mothers would sing to their children. His mother had turned the task of raising him to a mute governess.

He was not like the other kids. His mother keep him away saying that the other kids would only weaken him. He never had a stuffed platypus-bear or moose-saber like the other kids. When other kids had toys…Tetsuo had fire bending drills, cram sessions with tutors, and weapons practice.

The nurses and tutors came and went with great frequency. The only constant in his life was his mother's incessant demand to be perfect just like her and the presence of his mute governess.

He did not know much about her. He knew that she had noble blood because a prince was not allow to suckle on a commoner's breast. He knew that once she was second to this mother in the games of power. He once overheard her mother call her Mai.

_Mai._

Mai would sneak into his room at night and hold him humming a melody. He lost count how often she hummed him to sleep. He understood some of tears. She had to recently lose a child in order to nurse him as an infant. He knew that she transferred the love of her dead child to him.

Once he wanted Mai be to his forever. It was a childish thing that all boys went through. Little boys hated sharing their mothers with the demands of the world. It was ironic that he was more attached to a slave than his mother.

Mai was now dead. That he was assure of the moment she passed him the daggers. She had chosen to give him the only weapons she had left. They were the daggers that she had taught him to throw when he was a child and were even now hidden on his person. His skill with the knife was a secret he had kept even from his mother.

The daggers were perfect. Each one was the work of a master…perfectly balanced and deadly sharp. These were not trinkets for showing off to the crowd. These were for killing in the shadows.

Tetsuo kept on humming the wordless melody as he prepared for the upcoming battle. He had already spotted the signs of pursuit.

Tonight, the daggers would taste blood once more. And tonight would not be the last.


	9. Looking for Sanity

**Washed Up Upon the Sands **

_**Looking for Sanity **_

_**By Pat Squared

* * *

**_

"Hell is looking for a tea master when you hate tea," mutter Tetsuo.

For the past six weeks it seemed that Tetsuo was cursed with a constantly full bladder as he made his way from tea master to tea master. He learned the terminology and could describe the various blends of _boiled leaf juice_ convincingly to another _tea fanatic_. However, six weeks of being exposed to some of the best tea in the world do not change his opinion on the drink.

He walked into yet another Golden Dragon. It seemed to be the name for just about every tea shop set up in the past twenty seven years. Every tea master had heard of Mushi, the greatest tea master of all, but despite encountering some imposters, he was no closer to finding the real Mushi than he was to enjoying the _damn leaf piss_.

Failure – Failure was not an option for Tetsuo. Everything…everything that he was fated to be would be decided by the results of this hunt. _Hunt the Blue Spirit…why didn't you sick me on the avatar mother, it would be already decided one way or the other by this time._

Everyone knew where the avatar lived. Hell even the blind, dumb, and deaf could point out where the air bender lived. No…he was stuck hunting a shadow. The guy would be middle aged by now. Old enough to be Tetsuo's father. The guy could be dead and buried for all Tetsuo knew.

The only hint…the only way he could find his elusive quarry was to find another legend…albeit only in tea circles.

This would be the twenty-fifth Golden Dragon tea shop he encountered and did not expect any more luck in finding this Mushi character than he did in the past twenty five.

* * *

Sokka examined the latest blade to come out of his forge.

It looked just like the others to the untrained eye. However to the eye of a master blade-smith, the differences were dramatic.

In the past, Sokka melted the metal and poured it into a mold. This time, layers of different irons were repeatedly folded so instead of ore homogenous mass of steel that had to have its edges tempered and hardened, the edge was hard enough to take on a razors edge and yet the rest of the blade was flexible enough to survive the clash of a hundred thousand battles. The blind man somehow knew exactly how to heat a blade so the blade could be folded repeatedly. The layers of hard and soft steel made a blade that could take on a very sharp edge without chipping.

Sokka effortlessly sliced through a thick bundle of wet straw in a single slice, a feat that only his first sword…the one he cast from the space rock in his youth…could perform.

"Thank you…"

The blind man did not have a name. Three moons and he was still without a name. When asked what he wanted to be named, he demurred saying that as soon as he remembered he would share his true name with them.

"I am sorry that it's imperfect."

_Imperfect…it was perhaps the most perfect sword ever made_. _The blind kook somehow did it. _

However etiquette…at least the Fire Nation variety…demanded that a craftsman demean his own work in order to not appear boastful.

"Every work of man is imperfect in some minute fashion, but only the gods can see the imperfection in this one. My eyes aren't as young as they use to be, but I would not hesitate to bet my life on this. Thank you."

The blind man gave a slight bow and grabbed his walking stick.

"No, thank you for allowing methe opportunity to shed some demons."

Sokka looked carefully at the scarred visages of the blind man. Years of hell prematurely aged his features, but there was no denying that there was something that spoke of an iron will and vigor.

Sokka knew all too well about iron wills and vigor and what happened when iron will and vigor failed.

_"Katara, wise up. If you insist on help everyone we will endanger the mission. Once Ozai is dealt with you can help the world, but we have to deal with Ozai and his brats first." _

_Katara turn a bright red and a pale white simultaneously beneath her painted features and large straw hat. _

_"These people need my help. I can never turn my back on someone who needs help." _

_"I forbid you to go, Katara." _

_Katara lashed out with her water magic thingy and froze him to a tree. _

_"You cannot forbid me anything, Sokka. I will help those who need me even if it costs me my life." _

_These were the last words that Sokka heard from his sister or at least his sane sister. _

_Two weeks later, after the Battle of the Black Sun, he found his sister. Helping others costed her far more than her life. Death would have been far kinder than what they did to her. _

_She was dressed in rags. The bruises on her almost naked flesh and the dried blood on her thighs spoke volumes of the abuse she suffered. _

_"Who did this to you, Katara?" _

_Katara did not see him. She could not see anyone for someone cruelly burnt her blue eyes out leaving only empty sockets. The smell coming off her wounds spoke of a terrible infection that would claim her life. She was just sitting their hugging herself and talking to a man already dead. _

_"I'm sorry they killed you before you could see our baby," she wishfully said as she patted the large roof fragment that crushed Ozai and Zuko. _

_At the word baby, Sokka nearly had a panic attack. Katara was missing only two weeks. He knew enough to know that it was not long enough for a girl to even miss her moon sacrifice. _

_"Who is the baby's father?" _

_The next words out of her lips would haunt Sokka. _

_"Poor Zuzu...he could not hurt me enough to stop them from doing this to me. I should not try healing everyone. There was not enough pain so they got a nice white hot poker and punished me. Then poor Zuzu had to punish me all the time so I would learn to be a good breeding bitch for his harem. I fought but he gave me what I needed so she would not be allowed to kill me," Katara rubbed her tummy. "He gave me a little girl. I hope that she will be a strong fire bender like her daddy. It's better than being weak like me. I think I will call her Ayume. Maybe if I give her a strong Fire Nation name she will be strong like her daddy. Promise me that if anything happens that she won't be given a weak Water Tribe name. She has to be strong, Sokka so she does not have to be broken for being weak like her mommy" _

_Katara loved her element. She hated fire benders. She was perhaps the world's strongest water bender. Even Aang could not defeat her if it came to pure water bending battle. If it was not for Zuko, she would have defeated...drowned Azula. _

_"Please punish me. Please hit me hard so they don't have to hurt me." _

_For the next months, Katara would beg anyone she ran across to hurt her. She begged strangers to bed her so Zuzu could see how well she learned her lessons. If Sokka and the rest of the gang did not stop her, she would try to hurt herself or worse yet try to bed some stranger. More than one she tried to crawl into his bedroll and get him to do the most dishonorable of things. She would wake up and start chanting devotions to the monster that raped her and beg the spirits to give her pain so no one would have to hurt her. The worst was when she begged the spirits to turn her child into one of those evil fire benders so the child would be strong. _

_Sokka took his sister to the best healers in the world. Nothing would snap Katara out of her madness. Gran-Gran, the Northern Water Tribe healers, even the best surgeons in the Fire Nation could separate the madness from her mind. Even in giving birth, Katara was begging for the gods to torture her more so she would be good enough. _

_When Katara died in child birth, Sokka did not know whether to cry or be happy that his sister would not spend the rest of her days living in the madness that colored her world. _

"Sir, are you okay?"

"Huh..."

It seemed the blind man could somehow see out of those eyeless sockets. For everyone's peace of mind, the old man covered his empty sockets with a cloth. However, the mere knowledge of what happened to the blind old man summoned old memories.

Sokka knew inside that in his own way, the blind man was just as mad as his little sister was mad.

"An old memory. Thank you for caring."

Sokka hated aging. As a youth he could somehow...Now he found himself slipping into memories he rather never have.

_You are lucky not having to remember what they did you. I could only envy you. I only wish that I too could forget what they did to my family._

* * *

Aang carefully detached the letter attached to the messenger hawk's legs.

The hawk was an old bird, the sire of a dozen generations of messenger hawks that keep Aang in contact with the world despite living in the remote Southern Air Temple.

"So who is it from," bayed Toph.

Aang scanned it.

"Sokka and Suki. Here have a look."

Aang felt a tremble in the earth just before he found himself launched to the low ceiling and bouncing back to the floor.

Toph waved a hand in front of her unseeing eyes in an all too familiar gesture of _I'm blind _stupid _... you, of all folks, should know that I can't read._

Aang found himself staring at his on and off again lover and mother to his six children. Despite proposing numerous times, Aang always got a 'No' from Toph who would exclaim that a wedding would only make her parents happy that she was going legitimate in her old age.

Toph was rather moody and had an all too familiar upset stomach for the past month. Aang by now knew to expect a seventh illegitimate child in seven moon times.

"Read it or you will eat rock and boiled grass soup again…for dinner. And don't stumble over the words like you always do."

_Dear Aang and Toph, _

_Suki and the kids are well. _

_Except Jiro who took on an entire crew in some new card game called _pok-kier _and lost. He bet six months wages on two pairs. Unfortunately I and he found out that two pair is no good against three-of-a-kind. Now he is sailing with Captain Renki as her personal cabin boy for the new six months. Because she runs an all-girl ship, he is stuck wearing the tradition Kyoshii uniform. Knowing him, I expect grandkids soon seeing how he is like his old man with the ladies. Besides I took him to the poetry club the last time I visited Ba Sing Se and he wooed the ladies with his skills in the haiku...just like his old man. I figure that since most women get sappy with poetry and being the only man on board that he will been up to his warrior's tale in women troubles the moment that Captain Renki's airship took off. _

_Don't give him scantuary if he jumps ship. Suki wants grandkids to spoil. _

_Things are going well in Kyoshii. From what I hear from the captains and their brethren, the Fire Nation navy stick to their home waters. As long as no one tries to land outside the designated ports, their merchants are content to trade. I heard Azula's son, Prince Tetsuo, is going to some temple for a year to prepare for his official coronation as heir to the Fire Nation throne. As for the various earth kingdoms, most have returned to some semblance of normalcy. There is a bandit problem on land. _

_Don't worry about the seas and the air. The water tribes and Kyoshii privateers pretty much control the seas outside the Fire Nation home waters. I have contacted Teo at the Northern Air Temple to help us construct a more effective airship squadron. The Fire Nation built some but most of their airships are too vulnerable to the winds to be battle worthy. They depend too much on hot air and their fire benders are only good for heating air for so long. They don't have the range to conduct cross continental operations at this time. There are some clashes but nothing more than the usual. There is no sudden increase in wealth beyond what is to be expected. _

_As for conditions in the Fire Nation, outside the ports, we have little information. Due to Azula's paranoia, it's impossible to plant agents outside official delegations. The problem is finding Fire Nation purebloods and then whenever we land in an agent he only lasts a few days. I have halted infiltrating the nation until I can train someone who can blend in. I need someone who knows the latest traditions in the Fire Nation. _

_I thought I found one a few weeks ago. A blind slave was washed up on the shores of the bay. However he does not remember much beyond the fact that he is a fire bender and was the former forge-master of Iron Mountain Mines. The tattoos and brandings speak of numerous crimes. However, the torments he suffered destroyed most of his memories.For someone marked as a monster he is strangely peaceful in an _Irohish_ kind of way._

_My youngest daughter, Hanaye, adopted him as some kind of sensei even though I can't figure out why she would pick a fire bender for a teacher._

_I am trying to pick his mind but I have having no luck. In a way, it's better for him that way. We have seen what Azula's handy-work before. If the time ever comes to put her in check, send me a note and I will be the first to join in that crusade. I know that hatred is not a nice thing, but I still remember what Azula and Zuko did to Katara._

_I hated to end this letter on a sad note, but it seems that getting older is a curse. I am started to have crystals in my back and knees and am getting slower every single day. Soon I am going to have to give up the active life and dedicate myself to the pursuit of fish. I just hope that I don't get two hooks stuck in my thumb._

_Sokka._

_The meat and sarcasm guy_.

_P.S: Drop by sometime and say hi to Suki and the kids. I got a gift for you._

"So Snoozles is getting lonely. Let's drop in on him and stick Suki with babysitting duties."

However there was something about the letter that made Aang felt uncomfortable. The world was at peace for so long. Twenty-seven years of peace was unnaturally long for a world still recovering from a centuries long war. There was something wrong and he had to find out where it is.

Aang whistled for Momo.

The flying lemur was grey with age but still flew to his master's shoulder.

"Tell Appa that we are going an another ride."

* * *

Tetsuo was surrounded.

Four hooded masked men were eyeing him as he presented the image of calmness.

"That is the fool that sent my little brother to the gallows at Ba Sing Se. Get him. I want the _war baby_ to burn. Send him back to daddy all crisy with extra carbon charring for flavor."

Tetsuo silently bit off a curse. His carefully cultivated reputation as Li Lang Jin the bounty hunter was coming back to bite him in the ass. He knew from experience that there would be more bandits in the bushes.

_Look out the corner of your eye to see movement. When you stare at things...other things disappear. _

He remembered the scarred warrior that taught him the ways of pursuit and tracking two legged prey. The tuttor disappeared like the others when his usefulness came at an end. Anyone associated with the traitor Zuko was used and killed. Tetsuo missed Commander Jee.

However, Tetsuo would not waste the lessons that Jee passed unto him.

The one on the end was barefooted…the classic sign of an earth bender. He would be the most dangerous. There was movement in the bushes suggesting the presence of a possible archer.

Tetsuo marked their locations.

With a flick of the wrist two darts found their marks.

Then the battle erupted.

Here was the only place that Tetsuo felt he ever belonged. Here was no intrigue. No battle of words and double meanings. No false smiles and lies.

Here was the place…the alter of truth and he was willing to bet his existence on the fact that being raised by the most sadistic lady in the world meant you could survive almost anything.

Tetsuo pulled out his twin _dao_ (willow leaf broadswords) and slashed them in circular arcs. They were shorter than most…almost knifes instead of swords. They required getting in closer to the enemy.

Earth bending was a distance art. It was strong if you were outside, but inside earth bending was weakest. For fire bending there was no outside or inside. One inch or one hundred yards, fire bending was every bit as useful.

He slashed cutting into his opponent.

Amateurs focused on hacking off limbs. Professional attacked tendons crippling an opponent's ability to fight. He dodges hammers and maces. He dodged arrows as he tried to thin out the opposition.

However he forgot one thing. A mass of uncoordinated men was far weaker than a few who knew how to work together. The problem was that Tetsuo was killing the idiots who got in the ways of the professionals.

Suddenly Tetsuo found himself on the earth.

_So hard…can't breathe._

Bright red foam was erupting from his mouth.

Fire bending depended on one's breathe. Without the breath of life there was no fire.

_I have failed._

Tetsuo hated failure. Failure meant that he was not good enough to be loved by the one person who was supposed to love him. His mind played on all the moments that he was just another burden. He always was a burden to be handed off to a tuttor or his mute governess.

Tetsuo prayed to the gods of the underworld to receive his soul and to forgive him for not being to live up to the family's honor.

"I hope you burn in hell, war baby. I am going to _console_ your slut of a mother. Maybe next time she spreads her legs, she can do better than you."

Tetsuo could feel the spittle on his face.

_Must fight…can't give up._

Tetsuo gasped in some air and let out a scream.

From his mouth and body a flame erupted.

Everyone was surrounded by the flames.

Fire was Tetsuo's birthright. The flames traveled outwards and the flames consuming more and more fuel grew into a venerable forest fire.

Tetsuo somehow stumbled to an upright position. A lesser trained man who run for it, but Tetsuo knew that running would only hasten his end. Discipline…cold hearted discipline…was what separated warriors from soldiers. Tetsuo was a soldier and he could no more leave his knives behind than he could bear a child. He grit his teeth and staggered to where he threw his daggers. Drawing out a knife stuck in a skull was difficult. More so when your strength was bleeding out of you. However discipline made him do it. Discipline made him more than an average man. Discipline and commitment made him about to do things that only legends could perform.

He would never be able to recall how he was able to navigate his way through the flames. The others were not so fortunate. Their screams rang in his ears. He did not enjoy it. However, he did not pity them. Pity was a weakness that his mother was not yet able to beat out of him. However he saved his pity for the innocent.

However the arrowhead sawing though Tetsuo lungs were doing its job. Tetsuo knew that without help he would die.

Up ahead was a small town surrounded by farmland. Up ahead was either help or hell.

However a part of him no longer cared. He was doomed to fail. He had inherited his nameless father's luck and got stung by the scorpian's tail.

_Go hunt the Blue Spirit...fuck you mom...just send me up against the Avatar so I can just die and get it over with._

He knew that he was losing his mind.

_Maybe I can find his masked highness in the underworld. Find Mushi and piss in his damn boiled leaf juice. Shit on his ancestors for nine generations. Double fornicate with his female desendents before selling them to the brothel. May all earth benders triple fornicate with singing porcupines. Shit and triple fornication on all tea lovers...Burn down all the Golden Dragons...then wipe my ass with their signs. Force them to eat it with their tea and crumpets. Band tea and force them to drink my piss...Force them to get orally pleasured by snapping turtles...make them drink fire flake extract...force them to rub their stubs on fire flake extract._

Anger would keep his blood pumping. Anger would keep him alive for one step longer. Focusing his hate...his anger would allow him to reach the door. Tetsuo knew his visions of revenge was spiraling down a track better avoided by sane men, but he was no longer searching for sanity. He was looking for a purpose to remain alive in this world long enough to finish his task, go home, and collect on his birthright.

People stared as he staggered into some shop. He fell unto a table knocking the cups and teapot to the floor.

"Who did this to you?"

"Ba…" was his only reply.

If they connected him to the forest fire, they would kill him. right now, he would be tossed back into the fire and in his condition, he would be just as flammable as any other man.

Tetsuo's world came to an abrupt end. The last thing he saw before he fell was the sign over the kitchen.

_Golden Dragon Tea Shop. Propriters, Mushi and Li._

The gods of fate were perhaps the world's greatest comedians. Tetsuo wanted to laugh at his fate, but laughter hurts too much. He found a Mushi and a Li. But, he was in no shape to do anything, even if they were the pair he sought.

Hopefully they won't serve tea in hell.


End file.
